Stewed Plums with cinnamon and brown sugar only take 10 minutes to make with 4 simple ingredients! The plums get beautifully poached and syrupy - perfect served on their own or with ice cream, granola, yogurt and more.
Stewed plums from scratch are ready in just 10 minutes with only 4 simple ingredients.
The soft plum halves are cooked in a brown sugar and orange juice syrup that's infused with cinnamon. The flavors all beautifully complement the sweet fresh poached plums. They're an absolute joy to eat.
Try stewed plums hot or cold on granola, yogurt, oatmeal, ice cream or just on their own!
Jump to:
You’ll also love my plum compote recipe. It's more of a sauce than stewed plums, which remain chunky halves that you can cut into.
Stovetop cooked plums are super easy to whip up with just a few affordable ingredients and minimal prep. Plus, it comes together in under 10 minutes.
I remember eating stewed plums growing up and loving the balance of tartness and sweetness.
We had lots of plums and I LOVED how flavorful these stovetop stewed ones were! I was pretty much addicted to it on my yogurt in the morning. Ha-ha.
But this quick stewed plums recipe is just so melt-in-your-mouth GOOD.
Why you’ll love this recipe
A great way to use up seasonal plums
Freezable
Ready in minutes
Three ingredients
So versatile - try it on yogurt, oatmeal, granola, pancakes, ice cream...
A fantastic way to use up new season plums that aren't as sweet.
It's a fresh fruit take on traditional stewed prunes (dried plums).
How to use stewed plums
There are SO many great ways to use up stewed plums! Try these variations.
Use to top vanilla ice cream.
Serve in a bowl swirled with heavy cream.
Alongside custard.
Sprinkle with granola for a deconstructed plum crisp (aka plum crumble).
Dollop onto yogurt.
Serve with oatmeal.
Spoon onto pancakes or Vegan Pancakes.
Serve at Christmas breakfast for topping waffles, pancakes (perfect on Gingerbread Pancakes), Cinnamon French Toast etc...
Expert Tips
Keep an eye on the poached plums. If they're firmer they may need to cook a little longer. You want them soft, but not collapsing.
Try with lemon juice instead of orange juice for more tangy stewed plums.
Try clementine, satsuma or tangerine juice.
Some people stew plums whole and then remove the stones, but I don't want any stones lost in the pan so always remove them first.
Try replacing half the water for red wine for a delicious adult dessert.
For a festive Christmas dessert, replace half the water with mulled wine.
Try adding a thumb-sized piece of peeled root ginger, chopped.
Make it refined-sugar-free by using maple syrup or stevia instead of sugar.
Try it with homemade vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients and Kitchen Utensils
You only need simple ingredients and tools to make a delicious batch of stewed plums!
Plums - choose ripe plums. If they're a little underripe you may just need to cook them for a few more minutes.
Sugar - I love using brown sugar, but white sugar works perfectly too!
Orange juice - try naval oranges, clementines, satsumas or tangerines.
Cinnamon stick - or use ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon. Optional.
Kitchen utensils:
You only need a cutting board and knife to prepare the plums, and a pot and wooden spoon for the cooking.
Step by step tutorial
This is a super simple cooked plums recipe. You just need to dissolve the sugar in a little water and orange juice, add the halved, de-stoned plums and poach them for a few minutes until soft!
Follow this step by step photo tutorial, then scroll down to the recipe card for the full ingredients list and method.
Simmer the sugar, water, orange juice and cinnamon stick in a pot over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves.
Wash, de-stone and halve the plums (leave the skin on).
Add them to the pot of sugar syrup and simmer for 8-15 minutes or until soft but not mushy.
TIP: The cooking time will depend on the ripeness of your plums.
Sign up for our free newsletter and never miss a recipe!
Plus, you'll get a free eBook: 15 Minute Vegan Dinners!
Check out the Veggie Desserts + Cakes cookbook on Amazon
📖 Recipe
Stewed Plums
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 plums
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar or white
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 cinnamon stick optional
Instructions
- Wash, de-stone and halve the plums (leave the skin on).
- Place the sugar, water, orange juice and cinnamon stick into a medium-sized pot over a medium heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the plums and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the fruit is soft and begins to break down. Keep an eye on it as very ripe plums will cook faster and will get mushier. You want the plums to still be intact, but be soft and cooked through.
- Remove and discard the cinnamon stick.
- Enjoy hot or cold. Delicious on ice cream, yogurt, pancakes, waffles etc... Get creative with the stewed plums.
Video
Notes
- Try replacing half the water for red wine for a delicious dessert.
- For a festive Christmas dessert, replace half the water with mulled wine.
- Swap the lemon juice for orange or clementine juice.
- Try adding a thumb-sized piece of peeled root ginger, chopped.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors, so is not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietician for special diet advice.
Wendy McPeake
Yummy. I used lemon juice as I didn't have orange. The cinnamon is nice. I had to add a bit more water and cook longer.
Sandra
I used iced lemon tea I also use tea to cook my prunes also very nice recipe
Suz Crew
Yummy recipe. They over cook quickly so be careful. I added ½cups of walnuts. Perfect on vanilla bean ice cream.
Wendy
I love this recipe because it is very quick & you can be creative & it tastes very yummy & my Husband loes it with Satuma plums with lemon juice. Last time I didn't have orange or lemo juice, so I used apple juice it was still yummy.
kim
This recipe was fabulous! It was super easy and so delicious. My whole family enjoyed and I'll definitely be making again!
rika
This is such a fabulous idea! Thanks for sharing the complete tutorial and tips! So useful! I love plums!
Jessica Formicola
Plums are my favorite, and this recipe looks amazing! I can't wait to try it!
Toni Dash
Thank you so much for the tips! I love how easy it is to make!!